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Stronger by Jeff Bauman

Today marks the first anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombing so it’s appropriate that this book be reviewed today.

I remember when I heard of the bombings, it felt like I had been punched in the gut, hard. I was shocked beyond words and belief that this could happen in my backyard. Being a New Englander, although far from home, I knew that in my heart that Boston wouldn’t be knocked down for long and that they would get the bombers and fast! Jeff’s picture was the first I saw of one of the victims. If you saw it there was no way you would forget the way he looked.

The book starts the day of the bombing, how Jeff was standing near the finish line waiting for his girlfriend to finish the race, along with two of her friends, when he saw Tamerlan Tsarnaev standing next to him. By the time he saw the backpack lying at his feet and registered that it was out of place, it was too late.

He goes into how he met his girlfriend Erin the year before, how life was for him. Bits of his family life before the event took place. Then him waking up in the hospital, the pain and fear he felt in those first few days and then months He talks about how everyone knew who he was as his was the first image seen by the country, and the world. He writes about his struggles to over come his injuries, how he doesn’t like that everyone considers him a hero when all he did was have his legs blown off. But he became the symbol of the bombings, the symbol of Boston and how it wouldn’t be defeated. He became Boston Strong.

I found this book to be heartbreaking but inspirational at the same time. How he understood the frailty of life. He also talked about his feelings of the bombers. While he didn’t wish them dead he didn’t want them walking around free. He talked about how messed up Dzhokhar was for following the beliefs and hatred of his older brother. He said he could understand how he could be led by him, but also that he ruined his own life by doing so. While Jeff is angry he doesn’t express any hatred. That in itself is amazing.

“I know how evil humans can be, and I’m watchful, because of the bad dudes are out there. But I know something else too: bad people are rare. Good people are everywhere”

This book brought out so many emotions for me that I had to keep putting it down now and then to not only absorb it but to deal with how I was feeling.

He said he would be walking in 2014 marathon. I having a feeling that he will be walking proud on that day. Boston Strong!